Congratulations to Eng fans....but this effort came in a tad too late.
I really liked the lengths Eng bowlers bowled especially Carse and Tongue and if they had duplicated this - especially Perth on the second day or had their batting stood up then, 2-2 going into the nooyrr@SCG would have been awesome. The intensity @ MCG was also good, lacking in perth the minute Travis head started attacking.
You can bet the next pitch will be either spin friendly or the flattest motorway on the planet like MCG Ashes test 2017...
as Cric Aus have absorbed massive financial losses and would want tests to last 5 day and also aus have won and 3-1 has a better ring to it than 3-2.
Don't think much wrong with Brendon-Mac when it comes to tactics or selections etc, but where i felt he went major wrong was man management at the start of the series or perhaps even earlier, given he had 2-3 years with the single agenda to deliver the Ashes among the other big series.
The role of the coach is to make each player perform better than their potential and somehow i felt from the time they landed at Perth or maybe even earlier they were a tad over confident, with the whole thought of lot of the aussie players being over the hill etc was bandied about, played that non productive practice match vs eng lions, gave some bombastic statements here and there or the Eng media was too gung-ho but were caught out when Travis head attacked and did not have a plan B or for that matter any other strategy like for eg bowlign round the wicket or bowling slower ones or pitching it up and having a deep 3rd man in addition to the slips.
Still feel he or eng management should have done a better job with Jofra as he had the role of the spearhead and somehow he was not upto the mark, this was the series Jofra was primed to deliver, given the time, given the leeway - much more than he actually delivered, somehow as a neutral Indian supporter i felt this was THE series for Jofra and the whip was not cracked hard enough on him.
As an Indian supporter my mind goes back to 2021 BGT - 36 AO and Ravi shastri rallied the guys - come Boxing day MCGH 2021 and our guys responded magnificiently and even with a team full of no hopers drew sydney and won @ the Gabba and took the series.
B-Mac should have had that template and with a much better team, Aus were ripe for the picking and Eng, with some more intensity should have really delivered, instead we saw the insipid stuff @ Brisbane and Adelaide.
Secondly, amazing that even with about 2-3 years of B-Mac tenure, Eng still dont have a regular spin bowler, i get it Jack Leach is injured, but will Jacks does not loook like he going to run thru sides, am sure Shoib Bashir will be selected for sydney and whilst he might be better than Jacks, i doubt the Aussie batsmen are quaking in their boots with the prospect of facing him.
Also amazing when Eng banked on Jofra Archer & Mark Wood lasting a tough, gruelling 5 match series - given their history and propensity to injuries, its like the gambler banking on all throws of the dice to land six most of the time....it just dosent happen and they had no back up plan....
For Aus, The only thing they got 100 percent right @MCG was the squad selection...
As MCG was a No spinner pitch - did'nt miss Nathan Lyon at all.
Usman khwaja is surely skating on thin ice -potentially SCG might be his farewell.
I do not get the Cameron Green hype, 30 odd tests but i cant recall much match changing performances with either ball or bat.
But yes - he is simply the best gully fielder in the world currently and surely on his way to the ATG of that specific position Gully fielding - rivaling those previous like- Roger harper, collingwood, clive lloyd , Jayasuriya, ABDeV or maybe being indian i am biased but Virat, Suresh Raina, RavJadz were diamond at Gully - hope Cam Green performs with the bat and ball or either one in a series involving a massive opponent to justify this.
Carey is a magnificient keeper- surely the world's best - much like a slow burn slow cook gourmet dish - i mean standing up to guys like Neser and Boland, that requires diamond skills - and you only realize the flavour and savour the intricacies when you taste the dish as opposed to the other spectacular quick-get-it designer dishes or the standard keepers who stand back and take the catches or stop the balls...only 8 byes across two innings on an MCG up and down uneven bounce wicket...this dude has reinvented standing up to quicks and is surely a pathbreaker in this aspect much like Gilly was....
Must say i enjoyed Eng's Barmy Army on their India tour in 2024 and also in this Ashes series, what an amazing spectacle they are - a welcome addition to the game, and truly add electricity to the environment!
Hope someday India will have a band of travelling fans like these, to lend our own unique flavour in the stands/spectators.
Overall I predict a draw at Sydney, a high scoring match but who knows?
.png "Kumar Sangakkara :sanga")
